Sports News | Karnataka Swimmers Nataraj and Desinghu Continue Fierce Rivalry, Both Win Their 7th Gold
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Karnataka swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu continued their fierce rivalry in the pool on Monday, each clinching their seventh gold medal of the National Games to stay on course to becoming the best male and female athletes, respectively, at the multi-sport showpiece.
Haldwani, Feb 3 (PTI) Karnataka swimmers Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu continued their fierce rivalry in the pool on Monday, each clinching their seventh gold medal of the National Games to stay on course to becoming the best male and female athletes, respectively, at the multi-sport showpiece.
Desinghu, the 14-year-old sensation, came first in the women's 400m freestyle with a new Games record of 4 minutes and 24.60 seconds and then formed the quartet with Nataraj and two others to win gold in the mixed 4x100m freestyle event with a time of 3 minutes and 41.03 seconds.
The other two members of the team were Akash Mani and Nina Venkatesh.
The 24-year-old Nataraj, also a Paris Olympian like Desinghu, grabbed his second gold of the day in the men's 50m backstroke with a time of 26.09 seconds.
With the two gold on Monday, Desinghu have won nine medals so far in the Games, having earlier won five gold (200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay and 50m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay), one silver (50m butterfly) and one bronze -- (4x100m relay medley).
For Nataraj, Monday's two gold took him to eight medals in total in the ongoing Games. He has earlier won five gold -- 200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m freestyle relay medley, 4x200m freestyle relay and 100m backstroke -- and a silver -- 50m freestyle.
Nataraj and Desinghu would be strong contenders to win the best male and female athletes of the Games. Nataraj had won the accolade in the 2023 edition of the Games in Goa with 8 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze to his kitty.
In the 2022 edition in Gujarat, Nataraj was beaten by Sajan Prakash (who won the accolade in 2015 also) for the honour despite winning eight medals, including two gold.
Karnataka picked up two more gold medals from the pool through Shoan Ganguly (2:06.61) in men's 200m medley and Vihitha Nayana (31.46) in women's 50m backstroke.
Delhi's Kushagra Rawat took the men's 800m freestyle top spot in a time of 8:12.89, while Maharashtra's Saanvi Deshwal (2:24.90) finished first in women's 200m medley.
Karnataka has won 18 gold medals out of 37 on offer so far. The southern state has collected 33 medals in total to dominate the pool.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)